JPH08241251A - Method generating copy-prevented storage medium and the storage medium - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To make a wrongfully copied storage medium unavaibale by preventing copy-prevented information from being copied even by the copy program which detects a continuous format processing area to copy the information with respect to the copy-prevented storage medium generation method, which generates a storage medium having copy-prevented information, and this storage medium. CONSTITUTION: An unformatted area 3 is provided between a data area 2 and a copy-prevented information area 4 so that the data area 2 and the copy- prevented information area 4 are not continuous in the same form. Or an unformatted area 3' between a data area 2' and a copy-prevented information area 4" is varied, and information of the position or the size related to the area 2' or the area 4' is set in a prescribed position in the data area 2' as copy prevention management information 11.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a storage medium such as a floppy disk used in a computer, which is formatted so as to prevent illegal copying when data such as a program is stored in the storage medium. The present invention relates to a copy protection storage medium creating method and a storage medium thereof.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in order to prevent illegal copying of a storage medium such as a floppy disk, information as to whether it is a legitimate storage medium is stored in an area that cannot be copied by a copy tool provided by a manufacturer or vendor, When executing, a method is used to judge whether the information is legitimate or not depending on whether or not this information exists.

In the case of creating such a storage medium, as shown in FIG. 4, a data area 92 including a directory area 91 is formatted in a standard format of a predetermined size and the size of the standard format is further increased. The copy protection information area 93 which is extended and formatted is provided, and the copy protection information area 94 is set with the copy protection information 94 capable of identifying whether or not the storage medium is a legitimate storage medium.

Therefore, a copy tool A provided by a maker or a vendor for recognizing and copying only an area normally formatted in a standard format.
When a (copy program) is used to copy a storage medium that has been subjected to such copy protection processing, only the data in the directory area 91 and the data area 92 that have been formatted in the standard format of the copy source are copied,
The copy protection information area 93 formatted on the extension track or the like was not copied to the copy destination. Accordingly, when the program is executed from the copy destination storage medium, it is determined that the recording medium is an illegal copy because the copy protection information 94 is missing, and it becomes impossible to execute the program. As a result, illegal copying of the storage medium was prevented.

Among the recording media used in a computer, the format of a floppy disk which is especially required to prevent illegal copying will be described. In the floppy disk, the format area is composed of a plurality of tracks, and one track is composed of a plurality of consecutive sectors following the index gap (IG) and a track gap (TG). Further, one sector includes a sector identifier (SI), an identifier gap (IG), a data block (DB), and a data block gap (DG). Although there are various formats for the floppy disk, the format area is composed of consecutive units.

[0006]

When the contents of the storage medium are copied by the standard copy tool A provided by the manufacturer or vendor, the above-mentioned copy protection information 9
Absence of 4 can prevent illegal use. However, recently, there is a copy tool (copy tool B shown in FIG. 4) that detects and copies all formatted areas in a floppy disk.

With the copy tool B, all the formatted areas are copied in sector units from the sector at the beginning of the formatted area to the final sector at which the formatted portion ends. Therefore, according to the copy tool B, as shown in FIG. 4, the standard formatted area and the extended and formatted area are all copied as they are.
Therefore, the effect of preventing illegal copying as described above cannot be obtained.

According to the present invention, by storing copy protection information in a copy protection information area formally separated from a standard format area in which normal data and the like are stored, all formatted areas in the floppy disk are stored. It is an object of the present invention to prevent an illegal copy by the copy tool B that makes a copy.

[0009]

FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining the principle of the present invention. In FIG. 1, 1, 1'is a directory area, 2, 2'is a data area, 3, 3'is an unformatted area, 4, 4'is a copy protection information area, 11 is copy protection management information, 41, 41 '. Represents copy protection information. The directory area 1, 1'and the data area 2,
It does not have to be separated from 2 '.

(1) Creation processing when the unformatted area is fixed As shown in FIG. 1A, the directory area 1 and the data area 2 are formatted in a standard format, and then a predetermined area is created. An unformatted area 3 that is not formatted is provided, and subsequently, a copy protection information area 4 that is an area for storing information for copy protection is formatted from the predetermined position in the same or different format as the data area 2. Then, the copy protection information 41 is written in the copy protection information area 4. Instead of providing such an unformatted area 3, the number of sectors per track or 1
An area may be provided in which a special format process different from the standard format in the data area 2 is performed by changing the size of the sector or the like. Hereinafter, an area that has undergone such a special formatting process is also called an unformatted area.

(2) Creation processing when the unformatted area is made variable As shown in FIG. 1B, the directory area 1'and the data area 2'are formatted in a standard format, and then the directory Copy protection management information 11 in area 1 '
Is set, and based on this setting, only the set area,
To prevent copy from the position set in the copy protection management information 11, either perform no format processing or perform special format processing different from the format format in the data area to provide an unformatted area 3 '. Copy protection information area 4'which is an area for storing information of
Is formatted in the same or different format as the data area 2 ', and the copy protection information 41' is written in the copy protection information area 4 '.

[0012]

According to the present invention, between the data areas 2 and 2'and the copy protection information areas 4 and 4 ', an unformatted area having a predetermined size or an area set in the copy protection management information 11 is formed. 3, 3'are provided. As a result, the copy protection information areas 4 and 4'will not be the format areas of the same format that are continuous with the data areas 2 and 2 '. However, the copy protection information areas 4 and 4'which exist separately are not recognized and cannot be copied. Therefore, there is an effect of preventing illegal copying.

[0013]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below taking a floppy disk as an example. (1) The medium creation process of the floppy disk when the unformatted area is fixed is as follows.

The directory area and the data area are formatted in the standard format format. Based on predetermined information (area size, format format, etc.), only that area is not subjected to format processing, or special format processing different from the format formats used up to that point is performed. Here, when the format format is changed and special format processing is performed, for example, the number of sectors per track, the size of one sector, or the like is changed.

Subsequently, the copy protection information area for storing the copy protection information is formatted from a predetermined position. The format format of the copy protection information area may be the same format as the format processing of the data area, the format processing of the unformatted area, or a completely different format format.

A program or data as a main body is written in a directory area and a data area that are formatted in the standard format, and copy protection information is written in an extended and formatted copy protection information area.

For example, the number of tracks is 78, the first track is track 0, track 1, track 2, ..., Track 7
In the case of creating a floppy disk in the format of No. 7, two unformatted areas are provided as unformatted areas, the head of the copy protection information area is track 80, and the area size is one track. In this case, the processing is performed as follows.

First, the first track 0 to the track 77
Up to 78 tracks are formatted in a standard format, the following tracks 78 and 79 are not formatted, and the track 80 is formatted for the copy protection information area.

Next, programs and data as the main body are stored in the directory area and data area from track 0 to track 77, and copy protection information is stored in the copy protection information area of track 80. The copy protection information is, for example, a program name, a serial number, a user registration name, encryption information, etc., and may be any information as long as it can identify whether or not the storage medium is valid.

(2) The floppy disk medium creation process when the unformatted area is variable is performed as follows. Format the directory area and data area in the standard format.

Copy protection in which the size of the unformatted area, the track number used as the unformatted area, the format format of the unformatted area, the storage position of the copy protection information (start position of the copy protection information area), etc. are set in the directory area Write management information.

Based on the copy prevention management information, an unformatted area is created according to the set format format (including unformatted processing) for the set area.

Subsequently, the copy protection information area is formatted from the position set in the copy protection management information. The format of the copy protection information area may be the format of the data area, the format changed in the unformatted area, or a completely different format.

Programs, data, etc. are written in the directory area and data area that have been formatted in the standard format, and copy protection information is written in the copy protection information area that has been further separated and formatted.

For example, the number of tracks is 78, the first track is track 0, track 1, track 2, ..., Track 7
In the case of creating a floppy disk in the format of No. 7, the copy protection management information includes three tracks of tracks 78 to 80 as an unformatted area, two tracks 81 to 2 as a copy protection information area, and an unformatted area. When it is set to perform the format format a in which the sector size is changed and the format format b in which the number of sectors is changed as the format format of the copy protection information area, the following processing is performed.

First, the first track 0 to the track 77
Up to 78 tracks are subjected to format processing in a standard format, and the copy protection management information is written in a predetermined directory area position. Next, track 78 to track 80
Performs format processing in the format format a, and formats tracks 81 to 82 in the format format b.

Next, programs and data are stored in the directory area and data area from track 0 to track 77, and the program name, serial number, user registered name are stored in the copy protection information area up to track 81 and track 82. Alternatively, copy protection information such as encryption information is stored.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart of the medium creating process when the unformatted area is variable. In FIG. 2, the designated copy protection management information is set in the process of step S1. In step S2, the directory area and the data area are formatted in the standard format. In step S3, the copy protection management information set in step S1 is stored in a predetermined position on the storage medium. In step S4, the program or the like is copied to the data area.
In step S5, an unformatted area is created after the data area based on the copy protection management information. In step S6, a copy protection information area is created based on the copy protection management information. In step S7, copy protection information is stored in the created copy protection information area.

Next, a process for determining whether or not the storage medium is valid when the program is executed from the floppy disk will be described. When executing a program from a floppy disk created with a fixed unformatted area, it is necessary to detect the specified copy protection information area in the floppy disk and read the copy protection information in the copy protection information area correctly. It is possible and judged whether the contents are valid. If you can read the copy protection information correctly and the contents are valid,
Assuming it is a valid floppy disk, the program in that floppy disk is read into memory and executed. If you cannot read the copy protection information correctly,
Treats the floppy disk as illegally copied and stops reading the program from the floppy disk.

FIG. 3 is a flow chart of a copy validity judgment process at the time of executing a program in a floppy disk created with a variable unformatted area. FIG.
In step S11, the copy protection management information at a predetermined position in the directory area is read. In step S12, the copy protection information area is detected based on the copy protection management information, and the copy protection information is read. Step S
In step 13, it is determined whether or not the copy protection information has been read correctly. If the copy protection information has been read correctly, the process of step S14 is performed, and if it cannot be read correctly, the process proceeds to step S16. In step S14, it is determined whether the content of the copy protection information is valid. If the contents are valid, the program is read into the memory as a valid floppy disk and executed in step S15. If the copy protection information could not be read correctly or if its contents are not valid, then in step S16 the reading of the program is stopped as an illegally copied floppy disk and the program is not executed.

When the floppy disk in which the copy protection information is stored in this way is copied by the copy tool A or B as shown in FIG. 4, the copy tool A or B will copy the copy protection information in the copy protection information area. Cannot be copied, and when the program is executed from the copy destination floppy disk, it is determined to be an illegal copy, and illegal use of the program is prevented. The copy protection information may be inspected not when the program is executed but when the floppy disk is mounted in the disk drive.

[0032]

As described above, according to the present invention,
Separating the copy protection information area from the directory area and the data area makes it impossible to copy the copy protection information and prevents illegal copying.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating the principle of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a storage medium creation processing flowchart when the unformatted area is variable in the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart of copy determination processing during program execution when the unformatted area is variable in the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a method for explaining a conventional method.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1, 1'directory area 2, 2'data area 3, 3'unformatted area 4, 4'copy protection information area 11 copy protection management information 41, 41 'copy protection information

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Kazuhiko Arayama 1015 Kamiodanaka, Nakahara-ku, Kawasaki City, Kanagawa Prefecture, Fujitsu Limited (72) Inventor Sachiko Nishino 1015, Kamedotachu, Nakahara-ku, Kawasaki City, Kanagawa Prefecture, Fujitsu Limited

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A method for creating a storage medium used in a computer, the storage medium having copy protection information to be inspected when the storage medium is installed in the computer or when the stored program or data is read out. When formatting a data area for storing data and a copy protection information area for storing the copy protection information, format the data area and the copy protection information area in an unformatted area or in a format different from the data area. A method of making a copy protection storage medium, characterized in that a protected area is provided so that the data area and the copy protection information area are not continuous. 2. The method of creating a copy protection storage medium according to claim 1, wherein an area between the data area and the copy protection information area is variable, and a position or a size of the area or the copy protection information area is set. A method for creating a copy protection storage medium, characterized in that information is set at a predetermined position in the data area as copy protection management information. 3. A storage medium used in a computer, the data area being formatted to store the program and data, and the storage medium to be inspected at the time of attachment to the computer or at the time of reading the stored program or data. It has a copy protection information area formatted to store copy protection information, and has an unformatted area or an area formatted differently from the data area between the data area and the copy protection information area. The copy protection storage medium is characterized in that the data area and the copy protection information area are separated so as not to be continuous. 4. The copy protection storage medium according to claim 3, wherein an area between the data area and the copy protection information area or a position or a size of the copy protection information area is provided at a predetermined position in the data area. A copy protection storage medium, which has copy protection management information related to the size information, and is provided with an area formatted in a format different from that of the unformatted area or the data area based on the copy protection management information.